ORIGINAL: MTK
This technology trully threatens big oil.
I dont think so, see attached chart of alternative fuel use in vehicles.
Natural gas, a hydrocarbon, either produced directly or produced as solution gas from oil production
Propane - extracted from Natural gas via refrigeration/dehydration
Ethanol - can be produced from ethylene which is produced from ethane which is extracted from natural gas using cryogenic processes.
I doubt there will be a significant threat to O&G industry activity from battery operated cars in most of our lifetimes. More than 50% of each barrel of oil goes toward something other than gasoline, and that doesn't include the solution gas that comes off during processing which is further refined into feedstock for many other products that people use each day (like the toothpaste you brush your teeth with).
This is akin to statements such as "blocking the Keystone XL pipeline will reduce development of the Alberta oilsands"...complete hogwash.